Every year on the anniversary of my sobriety, June 1, I get myself a tattoo. It serves both as both a gift to myself and as a memorial of one more year gone by sober. The tattoos also work as a bribery to myself; there have been many days where the only force stronger than my desire to drink is my desire for new ink, and if I relapse, I’ll have to start my one-year clock all over again.
My tattoos serve as a strong visual reminder of how far I’ve come. I love being able to look at beautiful art that came to me because of my hard work, and I do count them up every once in a while. My first two tattoos were done by at Black Hen Tattoo in South Portland.
My first tattoo was Captain America’s shield, although quite a few folks have asked me if it’s a Wonder Woman tribute (I think this speaks more to an unfamiliarity with superhero nuances than to the quality of the tattoo). It’s on the outside of my wrist, right where a watch might go. So far, I’ve only gotten ink that can be easily covered up, although thus far I’ve been lucky enough to be employed at understanding workplaces.
The second tattoo is on the flip side from the first, on the inside of my wrist. Not as painful a place to get tattooed as you’d expect! It’s the traditional Maine symbol of green pine tree and blue north star. I took the design itself from the campaign logo of Bre Kidman, Mainer, the nation’s first nonbinary U.
S. Senate candidate, artist, all-around cool human being and a friend of min.